Kiwis trust in Government surges

A recent poll conducted by Colmar Brunton indicates that trust in the Government to do what is right for New Zealand is now 65% compared to 48% two years ago. I wonder what happened to cause this significant change?

A new study commissioned by Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies (IGPS) shows the number of New Zealanders who trust government has risen substantially since 2016.

The Colmar Brunton survey asked 1,000 people across the country how much they trust key groups such as government ministers, police, medical practitioners, churches, charities, small businesses, the media and bloggers.

Asked whether they trust the government to do what is right for New Zealand, 65 percent now answer yes, compared with 48 percent in 2016. A total of 59 percent say they trust government to deal successfully with national problems, up from 47 percent in 2016, and 49 percent think New Zealand citizens’ interests are equally and fairly considered by the government, up from 39 percent.

“This large boost in trust surrounding government was unexpected and really positive,” says Dr Simon Chapple, IGPS Director. “In other countries we are seeing a decline in trust in democratic political institutions, so it’s interesting that we seem to be going in the other direction. The test will be whether those levels of trust can be sustained.”

Dr Chapple notes that trust in the police and courts is also significantly up.

“On the down side, there was a statistically significant decline in trust in both churches and charities. Trust in other social institutions was broadly stable.”

Simon Chapple, IGPS Director, was interviewed by Suzy Ferguson in this interview.

Contrast this result to business confidence, National’s favourite go to statistic. During the winter of discontent in the first term of the last Labour government something similar happened when businesses talked themselves into a funk which only disappeared when the economic fundamentals showed that despite the doom and gloom things were going along quite well.

Rod Oram describes the background to the winter of discontent in this article and specifically in this way:

Eighteen years ago, the political challenge for Prime Minister Helen Clark and Finance Minister Michael Cullen was to roll back some of the most unpopular parts of economic reforms while leaving the main beneficial changes intact.

As veterans of the Lange government, they were battered and bruised by the reforms it that had pushed through. They focused particularly on replacing the Employment Contracts Act, which was heavily tilted to employers, with the Employment Relations Act. This gave some rights back to employees, but employers remained strongly in control of the relationship.

The neo-liberal Business Roundtable, led by hard-liner Roger Kerr, fiercely opposed the law changes. It was impossible that the government could reach a constructive agreement on the issues with Kerr. But Cullen only made matters worse. As Hansard recorded, he declared in parliament on August 9, 2000: “Eat that! You lost, we won, it [the ECA] goes! It is as simple as that!”

Cullen’s triumphalism reinforced the belief of many in business that the new government wasn’t interested in working with them. Indeed, Clark and Cullen also overturned two other business favourites among the previous National government’s policies – partial privatisation of ACC’s workplace insurance, and further privatisations of State Owned Enterprises. The government also hiked the top personal tax rate from 33 percent to 39 percent.

Clark and Cullen’s judgement was right. Almost all corporate leaders were letting the Business Roundtable do their thinking for them, even though its sway over government and business had diminished from its heyday in the 1980s. There were essentially no independent, future-focused leaders in business the new government could work with.

Government-business animosity deepened severely during 2000.

“There was something close to a strike by capital,” Cullen recalled later.

Eventually the government had to hold a “summit” to try to reach a working relationship with business.

Gradually the two sides’ confidence in each other improved. But neither became great fans of the other during the nine years of Clark’s government. Only the Key government achieved that for most of its three terms. But even so, business was beginning to grouse about the Key government’s lack of strategy and inability to tackle big issues in its last couple of years.

And there are two basic rules of New Zealand politics, business confidence will be lower under Labour than under National and economic growth will be higher under Labour than under National.

If you take a 30-year history of data and compare economic growth under Labour Governments with economic growth under National Governments, guess which comes out higher? Labour, by over 0.5 percent per annum, has a higher economic growth rate record than occurred under National Governments. As if that were not rich enough, there is another lovely statistic that goes with it that despite that, sometimes business confidence is higher under National. That is because it is purely tribal and because certain wealthy members of the community are able to rip off the system under National and feather their own nests. New Zealanders have had enough of it.

Yes I do appreciate that growth is and should not be the be all and the end all of measurements but most businesses would believe that it is highly relevant.

Still the same old rhetoric, and misrepresentation, continues from National.

[National leader Simon] Bridges said the Government’s lack of consultation on the oil and gas decision, and its work place reforms – potentially the biggest shake up in industrial relations in decades – were all taking their toll on business confidence.

An Auckland Chamber of Commerce Survey shows business confidence in “freefall”, with nearly half believing the economy will deteriorate over the rest of this year. Only 15 per cent expected an improvement, compared to 12 months ago when a third of businesses thought the economy was going to get better, and 8 per cent believed it would get worse.

Bridges said no one should under estimate the “corrosive” effect of falling business confidence on the economy and the Government.

“It is bloody serous. If they don’t turn it around it’s kind of like nothing else matters,” Bridges said.

“If it stays where it is in a year’s time people will really notice it…it will affect their pay round, their jobs, and the costs they’re facing at the supermarket.”

The Chamber of Commerce’s figures are based on electronic returns from small businesses. Think Horizon polling but less accurate.

A more statistically relevant analysis conducted by ANZ suggests that although confidence plunged immediately after the election it has improved and stabilised at a consistent, albeit negative, level.

I am sure that business will continue to be threatened by any action designed to improve the plight of workers. And that the population as a whole will support it. Maybe it is time for business to realise that what is good for all of us is actually better for them.

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61 comments on “Kiwis trust in Government surges”

Yes I do appreciate that growth is and should not be the be all and the end all of measurements but most businesses would believe that it is highly relevant.

Of course they do. Without growth and inflation they wouldn’t be able to pay the interest that the parasitical banks charge and the banks wouldn’t be able to pay their bludging shareholders any of those record profits that they’ve been getting.

Bridges said no one should under estimate the “corrosive” effect of falling business confidence on the economy and the Government.

We actually need to start ignoring business and simply do, as a nation, what needs to be done. It is not up to the government to ensure that business makes a profit but it is up to government to ensure that everyone living in NZ is not in poverty and that the economy works.

… ‘ We actually need to start ignoring business and simply do, as a nation, what needs to be done. It is not up to the government to ensure that business makes a profit but it is up to government to ensure that everyone living in NZ is not in poverty and that the economy works ‘ …

^^^

THIS .

… ‘ Without growth and inflation they wouldn’t be able to pay the interest that the parasitical banks charge and the banks wouldn’t be able to pay their bludging shareholders any of those record profits that they’ve been getting ‘ …

“……….sometimes business confidence is higher under National. That is because it is purely tribal and because certain wealthy members of the community are able to rip off the system under National and feather their own nests. New Zealanders have had enough of it”.

That is it in a nutshell.

The question now is how long before we see that 44% voter support for the National opposition start to erode.

New Zealanders, have now realised that Wealthy Employers, Farmers, Orchardists, and Small Businesses have brought nothing but humiliating decline to the living conditions and income of Millions of New Zealanders.

It was evident that the Capitalist Cult set out to do this to the bulk of new Zealanders, when John Key on becoming PM shot GST up to 15%.

He got his little left hand man Billy English to sell off Assetts that belonged to New Zealanders for many decades, and virtually gave them to the wealthy graspers and friends here and abroad. A violation of trust made by Key and English look like two traitors.

So the banks, had been flogged off to Australians. Not Kiwi Bank, which the people fought for and Taranaki. New Zealanders can’t count money.

Parking Stations sold to Wilsons – Asia. Because NZ People can’t park cars. But Key and English can make lots of money for their friends when they sell things off. They Both openly stated they loathe NZ Workers particularly the young.

Housing got tight. Billy English with the help of a strange Minister who refused to admit there was any crisis of housing in New Zealand ( MS Bennett) sold off countless Housing NZ Homes. Who did they sell to ? Well, not to the Poor.

The Capitalist Cult members as, always sell to their hand rubbing friends.

The Capitalist Cult members can look forward to going down as the most destructive parliament in the History of NZ Parliament. Greed and incompetence combined to tip honest decent millions of Kiwis into hardship.

It should be possible to bring these Cult Capitalists before The High Court. Where Key, English and Bennett can explain their hatred for Aotearoa.

“Business confidence” is an odd metric. What exactly does it measure? Certainly not the business owner’s confidence in their own endeavour.

As business owners, are we supposed to have special insight into the vagaries of the economy? All I know for sure is that this month’s figures are slightly up on last year, and so were last month’s. Does that make me confident? Erm, no.

Geez I’d be up a creek without capitalists and businessmen. I’m happy to entertain alternatives but right now that’s where I get my housing, food, clothing, transport, energy, internet….almost every material thing I need currently comes from a businessman. I’m not comfortable accepting all he has to offer and then gobbing phlegm in his face. Maybe it will fizzle out in 5000 years, I’m cold and hungry tonight.

… ‘ An Auckland Chamber of Commerce Survey shows business confidence in “freefall”, with nearly half believing the economy will deteriorate over the rest of this year ‘….

———————————

Notice how the operative word here is ‘ believe’.

And notice how , among other things , as soon as ‘any action designed to improve the plight of workers ‘ is put on the table,… business confidence goes into ‘ free fall ‘ with half believing the economy will deteriorate …

What a load of old tosh.

I know , you know it , and they know it.

Its akin to the same tired old mantra they have trotted out for the last 3 decades that an increase in the minimum wage to an actual LIVING WAGE would cause large scale unemployment. More complete and utter tosh derived from the Business Roundtable now calling themselves the NZ Initiative.

Yes , there are other mitigating factors and yes , – perhaps it could be argued by some I am taking a simplistic view,.. but come on ! Most of those ‘ mitigating factors ‘ are mainly from overseas conditions over which we have no control, – but that is still a far cry from shrinking back and using any spurious excuse to get out of paying a person a decent wage here in prosperous NZ.

There are no excuses for slave wages and being a corporate bludger in this country.

Roger Kerr was one such corporate bludger. That’s right , – a filthy bludging bastard of the first order.

Mickey Savage coined it right when he said this :

———————————

… ‘ I am sure that business will continue to be threatened by any action designed to improve the plight of workers ‘ …

———————————

And so did David Cunliffe when he stated :

———————————

… ‘ If you take a 30-year history of data and compare economic growth under Labour Governments with economic growth under National Governments, guess which comes out higher? Labour, by over 0.5 percent per annum, has a higher economic growth rate record than occurred under National Governments ‘…

Business is not a dirty word. We just need to be better at working towards getting us all into comfortable homes instead of a few of us rolling in the honey of ridiculous excess.

I’m hoping that small businesses of the future will provide many easily accessed opportunities for us to steer into our own destinies. With a 3D printer and a range of materials ‘Every door lock knob for every car ever made’ is no longer a matter of shelves and shelves of inventory, it will be all about owning the software to print every lock knob ever made. A business in a bedroom.

With a 3D printer and a range of materials ‘Every door lock knob for every car ever made’ is no longer a matter of shelves and shelves of inventory, it will be all about owning the software to print every lock knob ever made. A business in a bedroom.

True but it’s still inefficient for everyone to own a 3D printer. Much better to have community ones like the community library. In fact, there’s a few public libraries around the world that are making 3D printers available to the general public.

There’s also still the need for resources to make stuff out of to be available. That’s going to require better recycling of used products, mining and even growing many and then the processing of those raw materials so that they can be used.

And it all requires R&D – which small businesses can’t do as they simply don’t have the resources to do so. The government does though.

David why don’t you join the Capitalist Cult. Not that they will accept you. You will be expected to drag down every decent man woman and child that you possibly can. The Cult is at war with decent people.

Ask The Leader. He is the guy with the nice overcoat. And multiple houses. And heating. and cash flow – rivers of it. He thinks he is very important. The Cult women are very important. As a result they are Ruthless. They live in Clusters as you would expect in the same parts of Cities.

You see a Batman villain, I see a guy being hounded by his Mrs to lay enough cash on the turn of the century kitchen table each week to send the kids to the same school as Daphne’s.

You’re right, your true blue fella doesn’t immediately warm to me. I drink from the bottle and have a text alert that is Siri chirping ‘We’ve shot the bankers Sir’. But I love a small business. One in the bedroom is ideal, gotta love a 1.5 second commute. Office attire: trash casual. Procrastination is the demon. Chatting in here when I should be grinding and my monkey dancing….later.

I reap as I sow, isn’t that true for most of us? We get what we deserve.

No. Most of us are held back through the machinations of the rich as they control the wealth of the nation to prevent the rise of competition.
Most of us realise that what we actually want to do requires far more resources than a small business will ever have available.

No , … its not , – but it HAS become tarnished by the pirates among that group. And if you want to ‘ be better at working towards getting us all into comfortable homes instead of a few of us rolling in the honey of ridiculous excess ‘ … then that means regulations to curb the excessive behaviors of those opportunists who put light gravity on the plight of others.

And to do that means BIG GOVERNMENT.

* Paid for by TAXES , with the benefits thereof perculating through to the large majority in such tangible mediums as a world class health and education system – and housing , – which we once enjoyed pre 1984.

That’s why we have laws. To protect people. And that doesn’t just include from physical harm, either. Yet over the last 3 decades there has been an ideology that has enabled financial harm of others and as a result , actual physical harm in an oblique fashion. Young children and adults dying from wholly preventable third world respiratory diseases , for example in cold damp moldy state houses.

And perhaps there will one day be a utopia when 3d printing comes of age. Hopefully it will alleviate the housing issues. Until then , someones still got to slit that carcass in the freezing works, someones still got to collect the garbage, and someones still got to clean up after the chronically ill person vomits all over the floor in the hospital.

There are some very , very human activity’s that technology NEVER will be able to replace.

When a social democracy is working as I’d like it to my Kiwibuild builder wouldn’t be talking to ITM about a good deal on 4 pallets of plasterboard. Winston Peters would be talking to the Chinese factory about a half million sheet purchase. The lion share of savings kicked along to the end user, the family moving in.

On those scales, $200k comfy homes can be real. Individual flat-pack kitchens get cheap when you’re buying 10,000 of them.

As long as those ‘ $15k electric cars with balcony mount wind turbines to top them up’ are govt subsidized and paid for by a graduated taxation system that enable the poor to partake of those advantages, – and not just become a plaything of the wealthy.

Talk to a few family’s in South Auckland .

They may be interested if you present the full package.

$200,000.00 homes?

Where is this great technology that threatens to displace the oligarchs currently riding shotgun in this country ?

The year 2075?

People will have died of painful respiratory diseases common to the third world in large numbers if they cant even afford the electricity prices by then.

Nah ,… I lack your propensity for indulging in a Pollyanna type of mentality,.

Cursed with a sense of social justice , I gave up being an air-headed optimist when I was around 6. Maybe that’s because I moved out to the country at that age with my family and saw just how brutal life can be.

However, it was balanced by a secure childhood and growing up in a country pre Roger Douglas , 1984 neo liberalism.

I was a hard headed laborer for most of my teens and early twenty’s. I worked out in the bush doing construction. In a work gang in the ARA. On the dams. I was proud of what I did. I earned around $18-20.00 an hour in 1984.

And then there was foul air money , height money , tunnel money , gumboot money and on and on. Don’t believe me?… go out to the Waitakere dam and see the things we made… or the Huia dam , or the Upper Huia dam on open days… we were there. Our fingerprints are all over those places. As are the things we constructed.

And that work was heavy and it was fucking dangerous. Got any idea of who maintained those pipelines in those tunnels ?… or who cleared the slips to keep the maintenance locomotive operative?

It was yours truly and the gang of guys I served with.

You wouldn’t even notice half the things we did such as re- vegetation because of the shoddy way its maintained today under private contacts, would you now…

We also got paid extra for working on Sundays and public holidays and / or overtime. As we should have been. We aren’t / weren’t bloody slaves to no bastard.

After that ? when I left in 1986 ? … I spent years on $10.00 per hour , then $12.00, … and just two – three years ago under the National govt ?

A grand total of $13.50 an hour.

Post 2008 I was working long hours in security and odd jobs ( qualified to be a security supervisor , now btw …) And that was because of the 2007 GFC. I lost a property in Karapiro worth over half a million. In 2007/ 2008. I had to close my painting business down and even parcel out my bloody dogs FFS.

And just 2-3 years ago at the age of 51 working in security on night shift while YOU slept for a fucking miserable $ 13.50 an hour. Flat rate.

Wild Katipo’s on the money here, workers need a living wage. Anything less is a continuation of profiteering by employers while socialising cost by foisting it upon the public in the form of wage subsidies (WFF and Accommodation Supplements etc).

When we hear/see the amount of angst employers and their associations start to blow out of proportion when employees seek wage rises or the actions employers take such as refusing to negotiate, well seems time to shift gear from asking for a fair go to DEMANDING!

John I actually agree with a point you make there. Profits AND expenses should be privatised, not split. But not every business runs at massive profit, and the ones with small margins will not stand even relatively small wage increases without having to look at layoffs, casual contracts and the like. So by all means, DEMAND a wage increase – name your price. But don’t act shocked if business owners decide to retrench as a result.

Businesses have confidence in National governments as they know they will help them screw over the little guy. They don’t have confidence in Labour as they know they will put a stop to the outright blatant exploitation National lets them get away with.
It is that stopping of the outright exploitation that gives a lot of people trust in the government again.

We need thousands of small business start-ups and they need our support. Down the tubes with Subway. 2 baskets of fabulous sandwiches into a few office buildings each working day = a Mum’s $2k a week income and she’s there for her kids.

Feeling like we have a bearing on where our life is heading is empowering. A wholesome confidence boost.

If you think a mum with kids can make $100k a year gross out of sandwiches you have no idea how brutally hard most small business is. That’s why the preferred kiwi way of getting ahead is speculation on asset bubbles.

Time for a Confidence In Business survey, not just a Business Confidence survey.
Ask the general public one simple question:
“Are you confident that the business community has the interests of all NZers at heart?”

The results from the Confidence in Business survey will determine what weight should be given to the results of Business Confidence surveys.

That’s actually a really good example of someone being held to account in the wrong fashion. He obviously has permanent residency but not NZ citizenship. China doesn’t allow dual citizenship and so if he was headed back to China it means that he’s still got his Chinese citizenship.

What should happen in this case is all his NZ assets be seized, his residency cancelled, his DNA collected and banned from ever entering NZ again and he gets sent back to China with a conviction against him.

The Trust survey was very limited in its size. Public Trust in the Media was again way down the bottom, which odly enough has not received any comment in the MSM, LOL. Why don’t the public trust the media? The public distrust of the MSM is a major factor in the socital malaise that we find ourselves in. the Minister of broadcasting has a monumental task Ahead, whoever it is.

I dont believe these surveys. the nationals party is rotten with deceit and this looks to be one of their dirty tricks cooked up by hooton at excletium corpse.
The trust in the government is a no brainer.
The people of new zealand were not going to stand idly by and let the nationals run the country’s infrastructure and institutions down to provide patronage to their pals and ideological nutbar friends.
the nationals are dishonest and sneaky and concerned solely with their own pelf.
look that one up in the dictionary!

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The ruthless and self-serving use of the powers of patronage has been one of the hallmarks of the Trump Presidency. His purpose has sometimes been – as in the case of his appointments to the Supreme Court and other courts ...

The Arctic is one of the “canaries in the coal mine” for climate change. Long ago, scientists predicted it would warm quicker than other parts of the planet, and they were right. Currently, the Arctic is among the fastest-warming places ...

by Don Franks Former National leader Don Brash, invited to address a Massey university student club, was stopped by vice-chancellor Jan Thomas. She canned the event after club members voiced concerns about safety. The university considered putting on extra security, ...

This past weekend my Twitter feed was filled with fear. And some of the anger that stems from it. Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern - thanks for coming. I got bombarded with insults from a handful of people convinced that ...

Don Brash was supposed to speak at Massey tomorrow as part of a series of talks organised by a student club. But given his views on te reo and Maori representation, and his support for visiting foreign Nazis, people were ...

The new Government Policy Statement sets a bold and far more balanced policy direction for transport in New Zealand than we have seen for decades. Its strategic direction is based around four key objectives: As well as setting the ...

What happens to your identity when you immigrate as a child? Hye Ji 'Erica' Lee reports. Konglish is one of the legacies of Hye Ji 'Erica' Lee's life as a 1.5 generation immigrant. Luke McPake In my house, ...

A woman reports a rape, and as a result she is threatened with prosecution. Saudi Arabia? Indonesia? No - this happened in the NZ army: Military police told a rape complainant she faced a charge of wrongly being in a ...

Speaking shortly after the event at the Powerstation in Auckland was cancelled on Friday, Caolan Robertson, the self-styled agent for Canadian race grifter Lauren Southern declared that "powerful forces" were behind the venue's decision to dump the booking for Southern ...

We believe the harbour crossing should be public transport and active only bridge. Here are a few key reasons why. Why another road crossing is dumb idea This is something we’ve talked about a number of times before. The most recent ...

Stories of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... Photo of the Week... SkS Spotlights... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of ...

by The Spark Every day, Trump hogs the spot light. He uses summits to attack US allies, like Canada and NATO. He takes aim at women leaders, insulting British prime minister Theresa May and German chancellor Angela Merkel. He walks ...

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week. Editor's Pick 143-mph 'fire tornado' that cut a path of destruction is an ominous sign of the future A high-tension power transmission ...

When I was closely associated with a business opinion survey many years ago, we found that the responses about the state of the economy were virtually valueless. If you asked a business whether they were taking on labour, selling more ...

Ignorance is not just not knowing stuff. It is also believing you have nothing more to learn. For instance, you choose to be racist and you can choose to not be racist because you can choose to do the work ...

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Revenue Minister Stuart Nash says New Zealand’s ability to detect and prevent tax evasion is enhanced by an update to our double tax agreement with Hong Kong which is now in force. The update to the 2010 double tax agreement ...

It’s been so encouraging to see the strong support for banning conversion therapy in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I’m so impressed by the leadership being shown by the Young Greens and Young Labour on this. Green Party policy states our commitment to “reflecting ...

Three experts have been appointed to an Independent Panel to examine the changes made to the family justice system in 2014 by the previous National Government, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. ...

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Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sam Huggard said today that union members and officials around the country would be turning out to support NZEI Te Riu Roa industrial action to protect quality public education and the teaching profession. ...

The Resource Management Law Association’s annual conference Reform or Transform is being held this year at Te Papa in just 5 weeks. EDS is supporting this important opportunity for resource management professionals to network and upskill. ...

The Resource Management Law Association’s annual conference Reform or Transform is being held this year at Te Papa in just 5 weeks. EDS is supporting this important opportunity for resource management professionals to network and upskill. ...

The Council of Trade Unions today congratulated education support workers for achieving pay equity, with the signing of terms of settlement for workers who provide support to young children with additional learning needs. ...

Minister for Children Tracey Martin is clearly out of her depth after admitting she’s not aware of high profile cases of children who are being abused, National’s Children spokesperson Alfred Ngaro says. ...

“A member of my family was attacked in their own home. Two vicious attackers who forced their way into what should have been our place of safety. Two men who for 45 minutes chose to do ALL the nasty crimes ...

Whitebait season is opening around the country, and Forest & Bird says commercial whitebaiting needs to stop while four of the five native fish species are in danger of extinction. Forest & Bird’s Freshwater Advocate, Annabeth Cohen says ending ...

Around 20 quarry workers and concrete truck drivers who began striking at the start of the month near the Brynderwyn Hills have today reached a settlement with Atlas Quarry that gives the group between $2 and $4 dollars more an ...

The Ministry of Education today signed Terms of Settlement with NZEI Te Riu Roa to address a pay equity claim for 329 staff providing support to young children with additional learning needs. The Terms were also signed by three Ministry ...

Four Ministry of Education Support Workers enjoyed a celebratory cup of tea with the Prime Minister this afternoon, to mark the historic signing of the education sector's first pay equity settlement. ...

The serious allegations being made by Unions about the safety of bus operations in the Wellington, Waikato and Auckland regions are not supported by the findings of either the NZTA or the police, who check vehicle and working time requirements ...

The Cannabis Referendum Coalition has been set up to campaign around the government referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis. The Coalition has launched a Givealittle page to raise funds to educate Kiwis, promote a good turnout and change ...

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is calling for information about three specific neonicotinoids – pesticides which can impact bees and other pollinators if not used correctly – to understand how and where they are being used within ...

New Conservative congratulates David Seymour for copying long-held New Conservative policy on key elements of the way government should be structured (as did NZ First in the run up to the last election). ...

The Young Nats today have called on all political youth wings to collectively oppose the anti-democratic ‘Electoral (Integrity) Act Amendment Bill 2018’, more aptly known as the ‘Waka Jumping’ legislation. ...

A series of regional hui across Ngāpuhi over the weekend where Andrew Little, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, presented a new model to progress Ngāpuhi settlement negotiations. The proposal provided fresh hope to hapū leaders for a ...

As reported in the Hawke's Bay Today , a New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union analysis of catering costs at Hawke's Bay councils has revealed Hastings District Councillors to be guilty of ratepayer-funded gluttony. Hastings District Council spent $50,375.88 ...

A new campaign from WW100 (First World War Centenary Programme) puts wartime censorship itself under the spotlight. The online campaign features a series of animated videos, essays and cartoons which investigate the impacts of censorship historically, as ...

The question of who should pay for all the harm from alcohol is the theme of a one-day conference being hosted by Alcohol Action NZ in partnership with SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, at Te Papa, tomorrow Wednesday, ...

Israel Institute calls on Govt to distance itself from terrorism Israel Institute of New Zealand director, Dr David Cumin, is calling on the Government to distance itself from a decision by Labour MP, Dr Duncan Webb, to host a meeting ...

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union says the new ‘public servant medal’ would be more acceptable if public servants weren’t paid 34.6% more than taxpayers in the private sector. Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “You ...

Around 120 drivers from Hamilton, Otorohanga, and Te Awamutu will walk off the job tomorrow from 5:30am until midnight to show their frustration at low pay and bad work conditions. The drivers will gather for a picket outside the Hamilton ...

Go Bus says that it is growing increasingly frustrated by First Union’s unwillingness to engage in productive, good faith negotiation, and is disappointed that drivers and their families will be unfairly impacted with lost income as a result of unnecessary ...

Today Amnesty International delivered the voices of over 1500 people who took action urging Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, to speak out in support of more than a dozen women in Saudi Arabia who have been unjustly imprisoned for ...

It is time to reevaluate the evidence and how Glyphosate Based Herbicides (GBH's) are used in light of a ground breaking court case finding harm from the glyphosate based herbicide Roundup products. ...

A prominent campaigner for assisted dying said Monday MP Maggie Barry should resign as deputy chair of the parliamentary committee considering the issue because she is blatantly biased and discourteous to submitters. ...

Smaller Parliament would be a boon for taxpayers 13 AUGUST 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Responding to the ACT Party’s proposal to reduce the size of Parliament from 120 to 100 MPs, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says: ...

Owning an affordable starter home is a step closer for eligible New Zealanders with the launch of KiwiBuild’s new online pre-qualification portal today. First-time buyers and ‘second chancers’ can apply online to the KiwiBuild Unit to determine ...

The New Zealand Bar Association says a New Zealand Herald article criticising a District Court Judge is a disturbing occurrence where a media organisation has used its privileged role in a personal and unfortunate way. ...

Family First NZ says that politicians will vote on a law change which will further deem birth certificates meaningless. This comes as a result of a decision by the Government and Administration select committee to recommend that birth certificates ...

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Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: The mystery around Simon Bridges’ travel expenses going public deepens, teachers go on strike, and Morgan letter rocks Kingitanga movement. The leak of National leader Simon Bridges’ travel expenses has turned into ...

Sarah Mitchell used to be a lawyer at a major New Zealand law firm – she lasted two years – and went on to study how practical psychology can help young lawyers adjust to legal life. Here she shares what ...

Spark is upping its game in the sports market by buying more content, offering some of it free and promising competitive pricing similar to Netflix. Mark Jennings reports. COMMENT: The war over sports rights is heating up although the two main ...

Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler have overcome Olympic disappointment to become the world's best coxless pair. Juliette Drysdale, a former world champion in the pair, discovers what makes them tick. There’s a well-known expression in rowing that ‘pairs are made in heaven’. In ...

While a tiny group of Kiwis waits to find out how many millions they’re worth, a massive group waits to find out how much they’ll be underpaid, writes Sam Huggard, secretary of the Council of Trade UnionsToday is the day ...

ANALYSIS:By Ramzy Baroud, recently in New Zealand When Mike Treen, the national director of the Unite Union in New Zealand, arrived at the airport in Auckland earlier this month, a group of people were anxiously waiting for him at ...

Later this week, Mitski releases her fifth album, the excellent Be The Cowboy. Amanda Robinson talked to the singer-songwriter about anxiety, loneliness, secrets, cinema, and love.Mitski Miyawaki is set to release what she’s calling her saddest album yet, but Be ...

You’ve seen the terrible ads, now it’s time you see the terrible complaints. With crimes ranging from blasphemy and bad timelines to ‘the homosexual agenda’, we present a small selection of the most entertaining complaints that have been dismissed by ...

A cult leader arrested in Korea has been accused of forcing devotees into slave labour in Fiji. And the Fijian government is staying tight-lipped about their own links to the Grace Road Church. Jamie Tahana writes for RNZ Pacific.There’s an ...

Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun.“Peng is always on her period.”Having won the hearts of everyone in the music department, our heroes uncover ...

The Raiova family lay flowers at the accident site at Nabou, Nadroga, last week which has now claimed the lives of seven Fijians. They hoped to fulfil the wishes of their daughter, Paulini Raiova, 16, who had hoped all along ...

Spark New Zealand has secured exclusive rights to Premier League football in the UK as it builds out a suite of content for the live-streaming sports service it plans to roll out early next year. Spark has secured the football ...

Steve Deane spent four hours trapped in rugby league punditry hell. Here's what he learned. Prince William got married, Osama Bin Laden got shot, the US announced the war in Iraq was over (yes, really) and Samoa jumped across the international dateline. ...

Writer and illustrator Toby Morris finally answers a question that’s been keeping him up at night. There are a lot of things wrong with this world, but if there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s false claims of glory. ...

Whether making Somali sauces or Nepali dumplings, former refugees are providing income for their families and delicious food for the rest of us.New Zealanders who have arrived here as refugees make up an ever-increasing part of the food scene in ...

Good morning, and welcome the The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Low growth in the Māori roll, property managers slammed for their memes, and a big cash injection for the billion trees programme. The Māori electoral roll has grown, but not by all ...

Peter Dunne has seen many business cycles while in Government. He says Jacinda Ardern should genuinely listen to the business whiners and naggers, not just pay lip-service to hearing their concerns. Debates around business confidence are not new. They arise ...

Better Call Saul is dropping weekly on Lightbox right now – and it’s slowly catching up with the start of Breaking Bad. While we wait, here are four fanservicey ways the new show could tip its hat to the old one.Better ...

The conveners and judges of this year’s Best Design Awards nominations are overwhelmingly male. And in the past 20 years, its top award has only been awarded to three women. Designer Catherine Griffiths responds with – what else? – design. Each year ...

In a career stacked with challenges, Sarah Walker is facing her toughest task yet - trying to convince 10,000 of the world’s best athletes to tell her what they want. The Kiwi BMX star is about to begin a campaign to ...

New kids’ media platform HEIHEI has some great stuff (as well as a few missable overseas imports). Today, with the help of her six-year-old son, Thalia Kehoe Rowden gives us the inside word on the very best shows for your ...

Al Nisbet’s loudest detractor bids farewell to the controversial cartoon slinger.Today dawned like any other. My cat jumped on the bed and started coughing up a hairball. I forgot to get a new towel before jumping in the shower and ...

Alex Casey spoke to Alley Miller about finding the courage to get on a motorbike for the first time, and how this led her to her tribe. Alley Miller can recall the most magical moment of her entire life without a ...

Quinovic property management have embraced their stereotype of crusty rich people by sharing terrible memes as ads. Madeleine Chapman discovers they’ve been doing it for years.Mark Richardson explained memes to the eight contestants on The Block NZ last night. “The ...

With the announcement that The Walking Dead‘s Negan is joining Tekken 7, it’s clear that absolutely anybody can be a Tekken character. Matthew Codd has a few more suggestions.Last week, Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada surprised everyone with the announcement that Negan ...

It’s an eternal argument: which of the two versions of The Office reigns supreme, the original brutal UK version or its heartfelt US spinoff? The Spinoff staff finally weighs in.Alex Casey, senior writerThe Office UK is coded into my DNA ...

In this powerful extract from her book about the Christchurch earthquake, Chessie Henry interviews her father – a Kaikōura doctor who was caught up in the terrible drama of that day.Dad recounted this story to me on February 14, 2017, ...

Defects are ‘currently underdiagnosed and may consequently be left untreated at a staggering rate’, says one of a number of experts calling for more information to be provided to women.A little-known complication of caesarean sections is causing infertility in a ...

Experts have told the Spinoff that there is sufficient evidence about cases in which C-section can lead to infertility that women should be given more information. Catherine Woulfe addresses the key questions.Read Catherine Woulfe’s investigation into the connection between c-section ...

For a select few women, this could be the difference between a baby, and not. I’ll say it again: C-sections can cause infertility. Catherine Woulfe writes.This feature was made possible thanks to reader contributions via the Spinoff Longform Fund. Click ...

‘Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right,’ according to Mark Twain. Simon Day has a cleansing glass of bubbles (or three) to go with a history lesson on champagne. Champagne and fried chicken make surprisingly ...